John Sayles will forever be known for his writing skills first, but there are two films where he really showed what he can do as a visual filmmaker working on a large canvas, and I have no doubt the difference is that both films were shot by the legendary D.P. Robert Richardson. (The other title, City of Hope, will get its own entry later.) Richardson’s camera prowls hotel corridors and bars, darting between conversations, constantly giving contrasting views on events as they happen. If you broke down the script, you’d probably find a couple of hundred scenes less than a page long. Sayles gets right to the meat and then moves on, which makes the pacing here pretty swift.
The film covers the 1919 Black Sox scandal, and I enjoy the many details Sayles packs into his savory script, not just the bullet points of what happened, but also nice character moments, like a reporter who sings “I’m Forever Blowing Ballgames” to the team. (This reporter is played by Sayles himself in his most charismatic work in front of the camera.) The opening credits list almost two dozen names, and no character feels cheated of their point of view because of this “fly in the room” style.
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